Of providence



(No Model.) 2 Sheets--Sheet 1. W. E. MBAGHER 84 A. HOWARTH.

SWITCH ATTACHMENT POR GARS.

Patented Oct. 4, 1892.

WIT Essi-:5. 44

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. E. MBAGHBR 8v A. HOWARTH.'

SWITCH ATTACHMENT PoR GARS.

No. 483,744. Patented Oct. 4, 1892.

wx TNEESES. |NVENTDRS.

i UNITED STATES PATENT i OFFICE.

WILLIAM E. MEAei-IER AND ALBERT HowARri-i, or PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

SWITCH ATTACHMENT Foa CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 483,744., dated October4, 1892.

Application filed January 20,1892. Serial No. 418,648. (No model.)

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To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we,W1LLIAM E. MEAGHER, a citizen of the United States,and ALBERT HOWARTH, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, bothresiding at Providence, in the county of Providence and State of RhodeIsland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRailway-Switches; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to makeand use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to lettersof reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Our invention relates to a device for operating rail or track switchesfor tramway or other cars; and it consists, essentially, of a movablesurface guide-plate jointed to the switch-tongue proper, in combinationwith a vertically andl laterally movable operatinglever attached to thefront platform of the car and having its lower end arranged to engageand actuate said guide-plate, all as will be more fully hereinafter setforth and claimed.

The object we have in view is to provide streetcars with a convenientand practical device whereby the car-driver may easily and quickly. setor throw the switches in any desired direction, the operation beingeffected from the front car-platform.

Hitherto, so far as we are aware, the usual manner of operating theswitches of the class referred to is to force the switch-tongue back andforth, as occasion demands, by hand or by the use of a switch-bar, as itis termed, held in the hands of an attendant whose duty it is to set theswitch in advance of the approaching car. Sometimes pendulum-switchesare employed-that is, the switch-tongue is attached to a movableplatform let into the street adjacent to the switch, the lateralmovement in such case being eected by the carhorses, which are properlyguided by the cardriver ontothe platforimthe travel of the animalsacross it serving to swing or vibrate it, thereby imparting acorresponding movement to the switch-tongue.

In the accompanying two sheets of drawings, Figure 1, Sheet l,represents a portion of the front end elevation of an ordinary streetcaras equipped with our improved switchoperating mechanism, a portion ofthe apron being broken away to show more clearly the arrangement of thevertical lever and the manner of operating it to set or throwa switch,the latter, together' with the track-rails, dac., being sectionallyrepresented. Fig. 2 is a plan view in reduced scale, showing theguideplate, dro., as arranged fora single switch, and also the manner bywhich the same is connected with the switch-tongue, the latter being setfor the straight run. Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the switch set orthrown to divert a car onto the curved track. Fig. 4 shows an enlargedsectional view of the lower end of the operating-lever in the positionwhen entering the guide-plate and throwing the switch, taken ou line .fr,Fig. 2. Fig. 5 shows the same when just leaving the guideplate afterhaving thrown the switch, Fig. 6, Sheet 2, is a plan View showing themanner of applying and connecting the guide-plate when used in a doubleswitch. Fig. 7 isafront elevation of the vertical operating-lever in itsnormal position. Fig. 8 is a corresponding side elevation of the same.Fig. 9 is apartial horizontal sectional view taken ou line .fr of Fig.l, showing the leverand quadrant. Fig. 10 is a plan view, in reducedscale, of the device shown in Fig. 6, showing it set to divert the carto the right. Fig. 1l shows the switch set to guide the car to the left,and Fig. 12 represents a partial side elevation of an ordinary streetcar as equipped with our improved device for operating switches.

A detailed description of our invention and the manner of operating itis as follows:

A in the drawings indicates an ordinary street-car having any suitablemotive power, as horses, steam, electricity, die. Y ing-lever d isloosely attached tothe inside of the front board m of the car-platformby a sta tionary pin p and a0 notched guide or quadrant b. The leverisslotted at p to receive said pin and to permit vertical movement. Atthe upper end of the lever is a ball or other suitable handle c',whereby the lever may be readily grasped with the hand. The other end a?is forked and carries a guidewheel w. The lateral movement of the leveris limited by the ends of the guide-quadrant An operat- ICO b. Thelatter is also provided with a central' notch n', adapted to receive atongue fn.,n

formed on the back of the lever et. The lever when not in actual use orin its normal posi- 5 tion stands vertical. A rubber block serves todeaden the sound and prevent rattling of the parts. f I

The movable switch-operating guide-plate c is let into the base-plate orframe c, the upro per surfaces of the two plates being substantiallyflush with each other and with the street-surface. The movable plate cis pivoted at clto the frame, thereby permitting the former to move inalateral. direction or transversely to the track-rails r.- It-wiilbeseen that as drawn the recess in the frame e is substantially the samein form and size as the guide-plate plus the amount or space c" requiredfor the angular movement of the 2o latter.

The frame e4 is providedA on its under side with a box or chambere, inwhich the link or connection g is located. This link isj ointed/ 3o timethe'tongue f will move in unison with it,A`

both turning 0n their respective centers or pins. The guide-plate isprovided on top with two raisedL converging guide-ribs d, the

same extending rearwardly from the outer or free end`l ofv the plate.any desired distance. We prefer to'niake the inner adjacent faces ofthese ribs beveled or undercut at the outer end, which are graduallytransformed into vertical sides. (See Figs. 4 and 5 and the cor- 4oresponding dotted lines, Fig. 2.

The general construction and arrangement of the trackfrails r,guide-rails r', and switchtongues fare substantially as common to roadsehaving switchesoperated by hand in the usual manner. Our improvementresidesv mainly in the employment of the guide-platee, combined withmeans for operating the same from a movingcar-that. is to say, assuminga car .to be equipped with the operating-lever d and 5o run upon thetracks r. Now, upon arrivingat the switch,if the driver desires tdcontinue the straight run he'iirst depresses the lever by means of thetreadle attachment t, at the same time grasping the handle a', and, as

drawn, forcing it. to the left, Fig. 1. The forward movement ov thev carcauses the guidewheel w of the depressed lever to enter themouth-of thelV-shaped space formed'by the lateral separation of the ribs CZ and'engage 6o the right rib, thereby forcing the plate to the right againsttheN corresponding side of the recess formed inthe stationary plate e,thus placing the sw-itchtongue in position, as clearly shown in Fig. 2.`The continued movement of the car causes the'wheel to run along,

the rib until'it passes out at the rear opening d2, at the same timecausing the lever to move erate a three-way switch.

back toward its normal position, the driver -meanwhile retaining hisgrasp upon the handle, after which the pressure is removed from thelever and the spring raises it to its original position. The relation ofthe several parts is such that in practice the car-wheels will passuponthe switch-ton gue immediately after the setting of it. In the singleswitch the opening d2 between the ends of `the ribs d is somewhat widerthan the wheels w.

In case the driver desires to run the car from the straight track to theright (see Fig. 3) it is accomplished by repeating the operationjustdescribed, except that the lever is first moved toward the right andis next depressed. lt is obvious that the driver must exert force enoughupon the lever a to move the plate c and switch-tongue throughv themedium of the wheel w and theribcl against which it bears. The bed-plateeis` provided with a forward"` .extension eg'frY the purpose of forminga guide or track for the wlieellw as it advances onto the plate c.. 49o

Our device is equally wellA adapted. to op (See Figs. 6, 1.0, and 1l.)In this case, however, we proyide the .V movable plate c with two setsofV guide-ribs, the central pair of ribsW beingl arranged substantiallyas before described, except that the terminal space d2 is narrower,being arranged to allow the wheel w to pass easily throughit. The otheror outer guide-ribs are arrangedl substantially parallel with the innerribs, the corresponding space or track portion d. being considerablywider than the wheel and nearly uniform throughout its length, as.clearly represented in Fig. 6. It will be: seen that4 the connection gis jointedy to both switchfm5 tongues and to the guide-plate c, therebyinsuring that thesevparts shall, when actuated, alwaysmove together.

Ire order' to -adj ust the switch last described so that the car willmaintain a straightv course pastthe switch, the driver` simply placesthe lever a in a verticalY position and depresses it until it isarrested by the track-plate'- extension e2, the tongue n ofthe leverthereby passing into the notch n', which acts tohold the leverlaterally, thus relieving. the driver fromy exerting much force upon thehandle. In this position of the lev.er,.even though the plate bestanding at. either extreme, the ad- `vancingwheel upon comingincontactwith one orthe other of the inner ribs d'will move the` plate,andfas the wheelenters the narrow pora tion of the run or space d2 theplate will be i brought back to the proper central position, thussetting both switch-tongues at once.v 125' (See corresponding position,`Fig. 6.) The space d2 is straight for some distance, its width beingequal to the thicknessl of the guide-wheel, thereby insuringl the propersetting of the switch centrally. When in this position it will be seenthat a space or clearance c is formed at each side of the plate c.

In settingthe switch tothe right or left the driver simply moves anddepresses the leverl IOCv IIO

to its limit, the further movement being substantially as before statedin describing the manner of operating the single switch.`

We would further add that, as before stated, the quadrant or guide h,secured to t-he front board, is so arranged that it forms a stop inlimiting the angular movement of the lever a, the relation of the partsbeing such that the Wheel w will always enter the space formed by theribs d before it engages with either of them. The operating-lever can bedepressed and moved at Will in the'two spaces formed in the quadrant bythe center groove n and adjacent ribs, but not in both at the same time.The said groove and short tongue n are more particularly adapted to beemployed in the double switch illustrated in Fig. 6.

It is evident that the construction and arrangement ot the parts may bechanged somewhat Without departing from the spirit of our invention,which consists, essentially, of a switch-operating plate and a lever foractuating it controlled and operated from the ear.

We claim as our invention and desire to secure by United States LettersPatente- 1. In a tramway-switoh-operating mechanism, a lever looselyattached to a fixed part of a car and free to play vertically Withinfixed limits and carrying a yielding block near its upper end, aguide-Wheel carried by the lower end of the lever, and aspring-actuated-treadle attachment on said lever, as set forth.

2. In a tramWayswitch-operating mechanism, a vibrating lever looselymounted on a car and free to play vertically Within xed limits, aguide-wheel carried by the lower end of the lever, aspring-actuated-treadle attachment on the lever, and a guide-quadranthaving stops at the ends, and a rubber block on the lever and engagingthe under side of the said quadrant, as and forA the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof We have affixed our signatures in presence of twoWitnesses.

WILLIAM E. MEAGHER. ALBERT HOWARTH.

Wi tn esses:

GEO. H. REMINGTON, CHARLES W. BOARDMAN.

